Basketball Practice Drills for Youth Basketball Coaches

Team Practice Drills

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Pivot Layups
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Description Help teach your players how to catch a pass and use a pivot move to square up to and attack the basket. Setup A full court, and a few basketballs are needed for this full team drill. Position a coach at the three-point arc on one side of the court and then start a player line on the baseline on the same side of the basket as the coach. The coach starts the drill with the ball. The Drill ANIMATION The drill begins by the first player in line sprinting and jump-stopping to the elbow and receiving a pass from the coach. Upon catching the pass, the player now must pivot 180 degrees to face the basket and get in triple-threat position. They can either pivot to the inside or the outside but should be encouraged to use their non-dominant leg (opposite the shooting hand side) as the pivot foot. Be sure the players are protecting the ball as they pivot and not holding it waist-high out in front of them and vulnerable for the steal. As they complete the pivot and have faced the basket in triple-threat position, the player immediately go in for a layup on the same side. As the first player finishes their layup, the next player in line comes out and sprints to the elbow for the coach's pass to continue the drill's pattern. The player now gets his own rebound and immediately turns to speed dribble to the other end of the court for another layup. At the end of the full-court lay-up the player again gets his own rebound and dribbles the ball back to the coach. Key Points This is a continuous drill that can be run as long as you'd like. Have a coach that isn't doing the passing to monitor the pivot moves. It may also help to have a coach help get the balls from the returning players and hand them back to the coach making the passes.